Moon Phases Mini-Book - Ning

SCIENCE/LANGUAGE ARTS/MATH

Moon Phases
Mini-Book

This project helps children learn to
identify and label moon phases.

Materials

Moon Phases mini-book (see pages 34–35)
yellow and black crayons
water, salt
brushes

Teaching the Lesson Give children copies of the
Moon Calendar (see page 36)
MoMoinni-PBhoaoskes and invite them to draw the
shape of the moon they see each night
Quarter MName __________________ throughout the month. If bedtimes or other
s New Moon Crescent Moon 4 oon_________W_________o_______r____d_______s_________t__o___________d_______e______s______c_____r____i___b______e__________a__________N________e_______w____________m___________o_W_____o_____o____n________r______d________s________t___o__________d_______e______s______c______r____i__b_______e_________a__________C________r____e______s______c______e______n_______t______m___________o_______o________W__n____________o_______r____d_______s_________t___o_________d________e_____s_______c_____r____i___b_______e_________a___________Q________u______a_______r____t____e_____r________m__________o______o___n constraints limit their observations, they can
ssional Books find pictures of the phases in the weather
arly Themes: Sun, Moon & Stars Scholastic Professional Books section of the newspaper. If you have
2 3 Internet access, students may also check the
34 following web sites for information about the
Gibbous Moon Full MoonW_o__r_d__s__t_o__d__e__s_c_r_i_b__e__a___G__ib__b__o_u__s__m___o__o___Wn__o__r_d__s__t_o__d__e_s__c_r_i_b__e__a__F__u_l_l__m__o__o_n____ phases of the moon:

5 6 7 8______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________m_H_______e__o_____r_o__e___n______i___s_p______h_a_____a____p__s____i_e__c_.tIu_t r_ies__co_af_lml_e_yd_faamvooroiMtpnpeh.iacaktuseereu. .pWnrietewthneammeusndfoerreeaacchh The U.S. Naval Observatory’s
Astronomical Applications Department
Give each child a copy of the Moon (aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/faq/docs/
Phases mini-book pages. (Don’t put the moon_phases.html): This site features
books together yet.) pictures of each phase of the moon.

Read pages 2 through 6 of the book Virtual Reality Moon Phase Pictures
together. Ask: Do any of the moon (tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html):
phases you see look familiar? This amazing site allows students to type in
a month and year of their choice to see the
Have children use yellow crayons to phase of the moon for each day of that
color in the visible portion of each month. Students will have fun inputting the
moon phase—the side we can see because it month and year they were born to see what
reflects the sun’s light—and to use black the moon looked like in their first days.
crayons to color in the part of the moon that
appears dark. Read The Moon Seems to
Change by Franklyn M. Branley
To create sparkling night sky pictures, (HarperCollins, 1987). This
have children lightly brush each page book uses simple text with colorful diagrams
with water, then sprinkle salt on the paper to illustrate the phases of the moon.
while still wet.
TIP: Why does the moon seem to change
When the pages are dry, have children
sequence them, then staple together to shape? The answer to this question involves
bind. concepts that are too difficult for young
children to grasp. For this reason, activities
Let children complete the last two pages that model the sun reflecting light on the
in the book, drawing a picture of their moon may be inappropriate. Sharing books
favorite moon and labeling it on page 7, then such as The Moon Seems to Change and
making up new names for each moon on page allowing children to experiment with simple
8. To go further, introduce some of the names models, such as the one described in the
Native Americans had for the moon each book, will help lay a foundation for future
month. For example, September is a “Harvest understanding.
Moon,” December is a “Cold Moon,” and May
is a “Flower Moon.” A good source for this is
Twelve Moons of the Year by Hal Borland
(G.K. Hall, 1985), a collection of nature essays.

Early Themes: Sun, Moon, and Stars 29 © Scholastic Teaching Resources

Moon Phases Mini-Book

Moon Phases New Moon
Mini-Book
Words to describe a New moon
Name __________________
___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

2

Crescent Moon Quarter Moon

Words to describe a Crescent moon Words to describe a Quarter moon

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

3 4

Early Themes: Sun, Moon, and Stars 34 © Scholastic Teaching Resources

Moon Phases Mini-Book

Gibbous Moon Full Moon

Words to describe a Gibbous moon Words to describe a Full moon

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

5 6

Here is a picture of my favorite Make up a new name for each
moon phase. It is called a
____________________ moon. moon phase. 8

7

Early Themes: Sun, Moon, and Stars 35 © Scholastic Teaching Resources

’s Moon Calendar______________________

For the Month of _________________________

New Crescent Quarter Gibbous Full

Early Themes: Sun, Moon, and Stars 36 © Scholastic Teaching Resources